Monday, July 14, 2014

RUGBY: No inferiority complex

GROUPED with powerhouses Samoa, Wales and to a lesser extent, Papua
New Guinea, a string of heavy beatings awaits the national team at the
Commonwealth Games this month.

Coach Yusli Ramli, however, insists his charges are not going to
Glasgow just to make up the numbers or become the whipping boys in what
is one of the toughest international competitions after the World Cup
and World Sevens Series.

“Yes, we all know that these teams are some of the best in the
sport but you have to have some sort of self belief going into the
competition,” said Yusli, whose men have been on
training-cum-competition stints in Australia and South Africa earlier
this season.

“Obviously, winning games will be tough, especially in the group
stage but we do not want to make a fool of ourselves and will do our
best to give these bigger teams a run for their money.

“We have had a solid chance to prepare this time and what I want
the boys to do is play to their full potential and leave it all on the
pitch. We should not leave any room for regrets.”

Captained by the ever dependable Syahir Asraf Rosli (of Cobra),
the team have a good blend of experience and pace with Keris Conlay and
Serdang Angels star Faridzal Ismail and Zulkiflee Azmi also in the mix.

The team are arguably one of the strongest Malaysia has had over
the past decade and have the potential to notch a top-four finish at the
Incheon Asian Games later this year.

But for now Yusli will be pleased with a top-12 finish from the 16
teams competing in Scotland which requires them to at least win one game
in the classification matches.

Achieving it would somewhat make up for the disappointment of losing badly in all four matches in New Delhi four years ago.

New Zealand have won the competition at every edition since the
sport was introduced at the 1998 Kuala Lumpur games, and are again
heavy favourites to win a fifth on the trot.

Australia, South Africa, Samoa, England and Wales are the other teams expected to challenge.